Demolition hammers are used on work sites to break up hard objects such as rocks, concrete, asphalt, frozen ground, or other materials. The hammers may be mounted to machines, such as back hoes and excavators, or may be hand-held. Such hammers may include a pneumatically or hydraulically actuated power cell having an impact system operatively coupled to a tool that extends from the hammer to engage the hard object.
The power cell of a demolition hammer may be positioned within a housing and supported on buffers, which allow some relative movement between the power cell and the housing. A plurality of wear plates may be interposed between the power cell and the interior of the housing. For example, a hammer with a square housing may have four separate wear plates (front, back, right side, and left side) that surround a portion of the power cell.
In operation, demolition hammers are in close proximity to a variety of objects that may dent or otherwise damage the hammer housing. Furthermore, the movement of the power cell relative to the housing during operation results in wear of the wear plates. Thus, the housing and the wear plates may need periodic replacement.
Wear on the wear plates and damage to the housing, however, may not be uniform. For example, front and rear wear plates may wear more than side wear plates and the rear of the housing may be exposed to, and damaged by, hard objects more than the front of the housing. Current hammers housings, however, can be used in only one orientation and current wear plates are not able to be used, interchangeably, on all sides, thus limiting replacement options when wear occurs.